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MIAMI – As the Miami Heat were growing in faith after the last two impressive wins, the team loses heartbreakingly to the New York Knicks Sunday night, 116-112. Though the Heat were short-handed without Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr, the team had led for a majority of the contest until the fourth quarter and eventually into the overtime period.
Bam Adebayo led the team with 30 points on 12 for 16 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Miami's lone All-Star Tyler Herro had 22 points on eight for 24 shooting, two of 11 from deep, with seven assists.
Here are three takeaways from the Heat's loss to the Knicks:
A dominant first half for Heat against the Knicks
As the Heat continue to instill belief in themselves, the performances in the past two impressive wins continued into Sunday evening where the team made their mark physically against the Knicks right from the get-go. This was on either side of the ball as looking on offense, Miami had 24 points in the paint compared to New York's eight.
On the defensive side of the ball, Adebayo's defense was noticeable as it no doubt frustrated Karl-Anthony Towns in forcing tough shots and mistakes. By the end of the first period, Miami shot 13 of 22 from the field, though left a lot on the plate as they were one of eight from deep, though the Knicks shot nine of 23 from the field and four of 11 from deep.
While New York would try to claw their way in the start of the second frame, Miami once again excelled on what made them lead in the first place, which is pounding them in the paint while finding some rhythm from beyond the arc. By the end of the first half where the Heat have a commanding 62-45 lead, they outscored the Knicks 40-20 in the paint while making 20 of 24 in that area.
Out of many standout moments from Miami, the rookie Kel'el Ware was the most impressive as he was a presence on either side of the ball with 10 points (five dunks) and six rebounds to go along with a career-high five blocks in the half. After being benched in the second half last game, he used it as fuel to come out and wear against New York.
A scary second half and overtime for Heat cut it got close vs. Knicks
One of the Heat's flaws this season has been the inability to sustain double-digit leads, which the third quarter saw a slight glimpse of, especially towards the end of the frame. Miami had a 19-point lead dwindle to as much as three as the Knicks closed the period on a crucial 19-2 run as New York scored 36 points throughout the 12-minute duration.
Even though the Heat's defense had been exceptional in the first half, New York is a team where one has to expect some sort of explosion with the amount of firepower on offense. While Miami will quiet the rowdy Knicks fans somewhat by getting the lead back to double-digits, the lead was down to at least one with three minutes and change left in the game.
Another clutch game for the Heat got stressful as the Knicks got their first lead of the game with 2:58 left in the game, but Herro would score five straight points to get them back in front. However, Miami and New York would be tied at 105 with 26.8 seconds left.
Herro would have an opportunity to close it out, but missed a jumper, leading to New York having a chance to win it, but Miami played it well defensively to force a bad shot from Bridges as they'll go to overtime. While overtime saw Adebayo get into rhythm, the Knicks would outlast Miami for most of the duration until Burks made a desperate three to make the deficit at two points with 27.3 seconds left.
New York would close it out with an OG Anunoby bucket to snap Miami's two-game winning streak.
Kel'el Ware using last game's benching as fuel in Heat loss
With the Heat looking to reach another level, one reason could be because of their rookie in Kel'el Ware who has been a mainstay in the starting lineup in a front court next to Adebayo. While he's been impressive, the last few weeks have been a rough patch as it could be for any first-year player given a huge role.
In the impressive win over Indiana on Friday, Ware had another tough outing, prompting head coach Erik Spoelstra to bench him in the second half in place of Alec Burks. There is no doubt he used this at fuel as he was a menacing presence, showing off his “competitive character” as Soelstra said before the Knicks matchup.
“Yeah, I think it speaks to his competitive character, you know, and he's learning basically through a fire hose right now, these games have such context and meaning and consequences to them,” Spoelstra said. “He's not being gifted minutes for a young guy, but there's a lot of things that are scouting report related, or just competition related, or context of a particular point in a game, you know, and he's really been good with all of that.”
“And I thought he had a really good impact, you know, in the second half, he could have, very easily, have just gone the other way mentally, you know, for whatever reason,” Spoelstra continued. “Some young players do that in this league, but those were really important minutes in the second half and good learning lessons from the first half.”
Erik Spoelstra on benching Kel’el Ware in the second half and how his mental was like.
“I think it speaks to his competitive character and he’s learning basically through a firehose…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/tWjYQNhKBD
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 2, 2025
At any rate, Ware and the Heat look to bounce back against the Washington Wizards in the second game of the back-to-back on Monday night.
